Machine tool construction



Feb. 16, 1954 J.' K, MQORE 2,669,135

MACHINE TOOL CONSTRUCTION Filed May l5, 1953 4 Sheefs-Sheet l A INVENTORJAC/f MOORE ATTORNEYS mi f Feb. 16, J* K MQORE MACHINE TOOL CONSTRUCTION4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 13, 1953 INVENTOR JACK K. MOORE B nMIa-v'Feb. 16, 1954 J. K. MOORE MACHINE TooL CONSTRUCTION 4 Sheets-Sheet 5Filed May 13, 1955 s V. /L/

INVENTOR JA CK /N/,Moofpg 4 j-l/.en ATTO R N EYS Feb. 16, 1954 J. K.MOORE MACHINE TOOL CONSTRUCTION Filed May 13, 1955 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 JACKINVENTOR K. Maa/QE ATTORNEYS Patented Feb. 16, 1954 UNITE: n STATE s4QPF IC E MACHINE' TQOL Generationen .I'a'clalpMoorei Tucson," Ariz.`Amlicatin^-my 13,1953.SeriaLNoJgl (Cl. Wr-).

This. invention relates to the construction ofL machine tools.. and itsgeneral.. 1911110.05@ S'eO PTO' vide. a machine tool. Whi' h iscapable.. of: performingawide rariety of. mach. ne and Woodworkingoperations, lThus. the machne tool of the inventionmay be. used foroperations. Suelo es drilling, warning.,routinatapping, milling..sewing, grind*- ing etc. The invention contemplates the pro- Vision 0i?.al machine tool of this sort. which, may be used, for example, for.performing drilling; counterborina. reaming and. similar operations,on-.various machine parts," such for example, as the. oil pans.. oiinternal. combustion. engines.. ete-y and which will. do, AsueloWorkwith the required degree of. precision and yet Without involving elarge eaptaloutl'ay for tool expense- One. of. the. important.obieots-oi' the invention. is to provide a maehine tool' which iscapable of performing. such. operations as enumerated above uponextremely large. endounibersolne. .Workpieces, aswellas, upon smallparte.

Another. object. of` the invention ist@ provide a maehnie tool whichissn. eonstruoteii that large anseumbersome Partsmay be placed in thema.- chine andvv removed therefrom withl ease,

A. further object. of. the invention is. to. providey a machine. toollwhich. is. :capable ofA qnok .adjustment to accommodate Aslloessiveworkpieces, diiferins greatlyintheir dimensions- A still further object.of. the invention .is to provide a machine tool which will accommodateNa plurality of 'workpieoes and a plurality of.' operatins headsperformingeither the Same .or .different operations upon the respectiveworlgpieces either by moving .the operating heads to the severalworkpieces, or by moving each workpiece `along; the Worksupoortingtable. without removing it from the table. until the nal operation .isG0111- pleted.

Stilll another object of the invention is to provide a machine toolwhich may be operated as Va pantograph machine?, wherein ,av tool.,5110.11 for example as an end milling cutter, or router bit,y may beguided in its Contact y.with ,the workpiece. according .to a template,so that the .outline of the template will be -reproduced in .the work.

One of the advantages ofthe improved machine tool when used yfor.drilling -with a jig l isthe ease with which the Adrill .can be shiftedto its proper location as dictated Joy the jig.

The improved .machine tool will hedescrihed in connection with its useas a drilling machine as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

Referring to these drawings:

Eig....1f.isa view in end elevation... as indicated by the arrowslz-lofL Figs. 2 and 3, of theimproved.V machine toolusedas a verticaldrilling machine;

Fig. 2de; a similar View in side elevation as indicated bythe arrows 2,-2of Figs. 1 and 3 Fig. 3- is` a planvewfof the machine with thework-supporting table or platform omitted;

Fig: l isla View of thelgpottornl ofv the hase of Fig. 1v lookingupward;

Fige 5 isa enlarged-Vertical sectionwith parts broken away-taken onbroken line 5 5 ofl Fig. 2i

Fig. 6 is aV detail transverse section taken on line S- 6 of Fig. 2 anddrawn to thesame scaler asFig. 5; n

Fig. 7 is a vertical section taken on line 'I-1 0i 'Fis- 6;

Fig. 8 is a detailtransverse section similar to Fig, 6bu t takenonline-8-8-ofFig. 2;

Fig. 9 is an enlarged horizontal section talen Fig. 1j0 is; a, detailvfe'rtical section talen on line IU-I 0 ofll'lig. 31;

Fig. 1v1l is a similarsection takenv online l I-I I of giga. 3.;

Fig, 12 is a vertical section taken on line I2-I 2 ofFig, 3-;

Fig. 13 is a plan View of the pack gear mechan-isrn shown atA the upperpar-t of Fig. l but drawn toany enlarged scale;

Fig. 14 is a vertical section taken on broken line |3l-I3 of Fig. 1-2; i

Fig, -1'5 is a partial plan lView similar to` Fig. 3 with parts omittedYand illustrating the air pressure locking mechanism;

Fig. 176` is a sectional elevation of the parts sho'f'n in 15,; and

Fig. 17 is an enlarged vertical section taken on line HT--VIv of Fig.15.y

Referring .new to the eeoomnenrine drawings the machine .eomnrisee e.bese l which tney' be mede either .of epnroeriete nieielfeesillg 01"builtup of steel plates; as shown, it .1,5 11,1 the ferm of a casting.This paseisof suitable dimensions and shape to support. the machine forWhih itis intended. .Ordinarily lit will be rectangular or squarehoriontal'plan and, for erample, may be .four .or ,more .feet `in Widthand ,ten .or more feet in length.. .Near .eeen corner of y.the lease iSanunright post, Nthe frontvside Poets being indi.- catediay reference.numerals ..2 .and 3 andthe rear poste .loi-7 .fl and .5- These postsereSecurely fixed in bosse:J fa. 3st, da ana` 5.a on base l. rhey areadyantageouslyhollow tubular members, out may have an Hshape orothercross-tsection.

.Supported betweentne irontposts 2 @1.1.1.1 .3 and the rear posts d and5, respectively, there are two parallel tool carriage and mountingsupporting bars ll. Below these there are two parallel work-tablesupporting bars i4. Extending crosswise between the upper two parallelbars ii is a pair of cross bars iii on which a tool mounting 9 isslidably supported. Cross bars iii preferably extend the narrowdimension of the machine tool and bars Il the lengthwise or longerdimension.

The tool, in this instance a drill, is mounted in a chuck l iiXed to thelower end of a shaft which rotates in a column 8 which is verticallymovable in the tool mounting 9.

The ends or supporting bars Il are attached to supporting members l2which are vertically slidable on the respective posts 2, 3, A', and 5andmechanism is provided for simultaneously shift ing the supportingmembers on the posts while maintaining the bars l! in horizontalposition, and thus, through the cross bars it and the tool mounting ilraising and lowering the tool carrym ing column t.

Mounted on the posts 2 5 below the bar-supporting members l2 there is asecond set of barsupporting members i3, one for each of the four posts.These members on the front posts 2 and 3 have attached thereto the frontwork table supporting bar Hi, and the members on the two rear posts fiand 5 the rear bar id (not visible). This work-table, indicated at l5,may be either a thick steel plate (or series of plates side by side), ora metal casting, ribbed on the underside as required to provide thenecessary rigidity for the type of work to be done. i

Mechanisms for simultaneously raising and lowering the lowerbar-supporting members i3 are so arranged as to simultaneously movethese four members on their respective posts to raise and lower the twowork-table bars M and to maintain them both in the same horizontal planeparallel with the plane of the upper horizontal tool carrying bars li.rIhese mechanisms are independent of each other so that either thework-table l5 may be raised or lowered, or the tool mounting 9 may beraised or lowered, as

desired.

The tool mounting 9 may either by a steel casting, or built up of steelplates secured together in any suitable manner. As shown in Fig. 3 it isprovided with four bosses it having apertures to receive the cross barsiii, and also provided with locking mechanism, to be later described,for locking the tool mounting in any desired position on the cross bars.The apertures for bars it are bushed, preferably with ,y

nylon bushings, to make sliding t with the cross bars I@ which willpermit the tool mounting to be readily moved by hand to any desiredposition. These bushings nt sufficiently close to substantially prohibitany vertical movement, or rocking movement, with respect tobars lil.

It will be understood that cross bars ld have finished surfaces in orderto provide the required accurate it within the bushed apertures of thebosses I6. These bars may be made of solid steel, but preferably aremade of heavy steel tubing in order to reduce weight and at the sametime provide the necessary rigidity. Cross bars IE! are supported attheir opposite ends on carriages indicated generally by numeral il.These carriages are alike, and each comprises a vertical steel plate i3having lugs iii which project hori zontally near its ends to formsliding bearings with one of the upper supporting bars Il.

Grooved wheels 2t are rotatably mounted on stud shafts 2l which projecthorizontally from the outer surface of carriage plate it. These wheelsare arranged both above and below the supporting bars il. The verticalspacing or^ these wheels 20 with respect to the apertures in the lugsit? is such that thewheels 20 receive the weight or the cross bars lil,and the parts supported thereon, while the apertures in lugs i9 serve toprevent the distortion or shifting of the wheels 2d on their supportingshafts under the stresses applied when the tool t is fed downwardly intothe work. In this way the wheels 2i! serve to ease the friction loadwhen the cross bars l@ and tool mounting 9 are shifted lengthwise or themachine.

It will be understood that in certain sizes of the improved machine tooland for operation on certain classes of work it may be desirable toeliminate the wheels 2li and depend on the closely tting bearing lugsit. These lugs may be provided with bearing bushings similar to thebosses it of the tool mounting 9. It will also be understood that undercertain conditions, particularly with the larger sizes of the machinetool, it may be desirable to provide the grooved wheels 2t, or theirequivalent, on the tool mounting in association with the plain, slidingbearings of bosses iii, in order to reduce the friction in shifting theposition of the tool mounting along the cross bars i.

rthe bar supporting members l2 and I 3 for the respective upper andlower pairs of horizontal bars il and ill are nearly but not quiteidentical. A description of the bar-supporting members I3 for the loweror work-table supporting bars ifi will be given rst. Referring to Fig.6, each of these bar-supporting members it comprises two members whichslide on the surfaces of its hollow post; outer sleeve 22 and an innerblock or nut member 23. The outer sleeve 22 has a bore which ts theouter surface of the post but is preferably square or rectangular inouter configuration. The adjacent end of one of the bars M, these barsbeing in the form oi thick walled tubes is secured to sleeve 22 by meansof a member 25. This member is secured to a :dat face 22 by means ofscrews 26 (Fig. 7). Member 25 has a central, projection 2l which entersthe outer end of the hollow bar.

rThe inner member, block 23. is permanently connected with the outermember, sleeve 22, by means of a disk having a circular head which ntsclosely within a lateral opening in the side of sleeve 22. This member23 has on its inner surface a rib or projection 29 which extends througha lower vertical slot 3i), provided in each. of the four posts 2 5, andengages one side of the nut member 23, which is slabbed to provide aiiat surn face. These parts are held in rlxed relation to one another bymeans of a pair of screws di (Fig. '7). The slots te extend from nearthe bottom of the posts upwardly to provide the range of raising andlowering movement desired for the worlbsupporting table i5.

Referring now to 8, as stated above, the construction of the uppersupporting members l2 is similar to that oi members i3 just described.The differences in construction of the two sup porting members areoccasioned by the fact that the slots 3@ are on the outsides of therespective four `posts 2-5, whereas the slots 32 which are provided inthe upper portions of these posts to afford the desired range of raisingand lowering movement of the tool mounting 9, are disposed 180 onthe'insides of the posts. Consequently,

ih ned The mechanism SH screw by means of a hand wheel 62 which ismounted at the outside end.

The lead screw is also preferably provided with a dial 63 and stationarypointer 64, the dial being marked off in suitable divisions to aid insetting the location of the tool lengthwise of bars Il. The mechanismshown in Fig. 12 for operating the separable sections 6i, @la of the nutcomprises a double-threaded screw 65 with the portions at its oppositeends oppositely threaded so that by turning a hand wheel 6G the nutsections may be caused to move in their supporting bracket 61 to graspor release the screwV 5l.

The construction and arrangement of lead screw 58 are similar to thatjust described. This lead screw has a bearing in a bracket 63 which ismounted on one of the carriages I1, for example the one which is at theopposite end of cross bars l from jackscrew 5l'. The lead screw 58engages a separable nut 69, the sections of which are mounted on abracket 19 attached to tool mounting 9. A hand wheel 'H rotates thedoublethreaded screw 'I2 and brings the two sections of nut 59 into orout of engagement with the lead screw 58.

Under certain circumstances it may be desirable to lock the tool inposition after it has been properly adjusted with respect to theworkpiece 56. To do this it is necessary to lock tool mounting 9 tocross bars it, and also to lock both of the carriages il to thelongitudinal or tool carriage supporting bars il. This locking can beaccomplished conveniently by the use of a mechanism which is operated byair or other fluid pressure. One of these locking devices, indicatedgenerally by numeral 13, is illustrated in Fig. 17 and is mounted ineach of lugs i9 of the carriages Il.

Each device consists of a plunger 'M which is movable vertically in anaperture in the lower portion of klug i9, such aperture beingcounterbored as to form an air cylinder 15. A piston 'i6 moving incylinder l5 is attached to the lower end of plunger 14. A. plugconnection 'i1 for an air conduit or tube is screwed into the lower endof cylinder 15. When the air pressure is applied plunger 14 whichpreferably has an arcuate face, is forced against the lower surface ofbar l I and effectively locks the carriage il. An air locking device 'I8constructed similarly to device '13, just described, is provided in thelower portion of each f of the bosses IB of the tool mounting s.

Air for operating the locking devices 'i3 and iii is supplied through aexible hose 19 (Fig. 16) to three control valves 50, 8l and 82. Each ofthese valves has three positions. In the ho-rizontal position the air iscut oi; in the vertical position the air is turned on, and in a midwayposition the air sup-ply is closed off and a vent is opened from theconduits to which the valves are connected.

rIhese conduits from valve 813 are indicated at E3, dit and Sii whichlead to the four air locking devices "I3, two on each carriage Il.Central control valve Si is arranged to control the air locking devices18 of the tool mounting 9, and for this purpose a conduit 85 connectsvalve 8l with two branch pipes tl and tti. Conduit S1 :branches to thetwo air locks 18 at the front of the tool mounting as viewed in Fig. 15,and conduit 38 leads to the two locking devices at the rear.

From the above it will be understood that valve Si!) may be used to lockthe two carriages il at any position on the tool carriage sup- 8 portingbars l l, and that valve di may be lused to lock the tool mounting 9 atany position on its supporting bars l0; also, that the tool carriages ilmay be locked while the tool mounting 9 is left unlocked, or vice versa.

rihe third control valve S2 is provided to enable the tool mounting 9and the carriages Il to be locked and unlocked simultaneously andquickly. Accordingly, a conduit leads from the outlet of valve 82 to theoutlet of valve 8G, that is, conduit S3. Also, a tube t@ leads from theoutlet of valve 82 to the outlet of valve iii, in other words conduitSe. With this arrangement, by leaving both valves and Si in their closedposition, valve 252 will control the application of air pressure to allof the air locks simultaneously, and also the venting of all of theseair locks to the atmosphere simultaneously.

Referring now to the construction of the tool carrying column 8, thiscomprises an elongated sleeve or tubular member which is arranged toslide in a suitable vertical aperture extending from top to bottom ofthe tool mounting e. Within this sleeve there is a vertical drivingshaft or spindle 9! on the lower end of which the chuck 1, or otherdevice for supporting the desired tool, is attached. Shaft 9i isprovided with the usual ball thrust bearings as illustrated in Figs. land 2. f'

Power is applied to spindle @l at its upper end in either of two ways,namely, by means of a stepped pulley @2 or by means of a spur gear 93.This power may :be obtained from any suitable source, but preferably anelectric motor @t is mounted in vertical position on a bracket S5attached to one side of the upper end of tool carrying column 8. lThevertical shaft of motor @il which extends upwardly is provided with asecond stepped pulley 9d, and belt e? serves to interconnect this pulleywith pulley 92 in a conventional manner.

When the drill E, or other tool, is to be operated at fairly highrotative speeds, a suitable range of these speeds may be obtained byshift- .ing the belt el on the stepped pulleys, as is well understood.When, however, lower speeds are to be used, a back gear drivingmechanism, shown in Figs. 13 and 14, may be employed. In this event, thebelt 97 is removed from pulley 92 and applied to the back gearmechanism. The output of the baci; gear mechanism drives the spindle Sithrough spur gear 93. This mechanism will be described in detailpresently.

The drill 6, or other tool, may be raised or lowered with respect to thework 56 in either of three ways. TEhe iirst of these is'by means of ahand wheel 9d which may be used to run the tool carrying column 8 up anddown with reference to tool mounting Ei. For this purpose hand wheel 93is mounted on a short horizontal shaft te on the rear end of which thereis a worm idd which engages a worm gear lill, this worm gear being xedto a short horizontal cross shaft |02. A small pinion H33 on shaft m2meshes with the teeth of a rack Hit which is secured to the side ofcolumn 8.

'The second manner of raising and lowering the tool 't with respect tcthe worl: 5E is by operating the jackscrews 35 raising or lowering thetool carriage supporting bars l i. The third way is by operatingjackscrews 34 to raise or lower the work-table supporting bars lli. Thisis done by operating the respective driving motors Vi and 52, or byturning their respective shafts 50 and 53 by means of the hand crank(not shown) vorkvernet fonrtnis 'iiiliy" m15 l?" It will be understoodthat the'work-table l5 is provided with the usualslots for the receptionof from stepped pulley 92 and placed upon stepped far if; "'ui www ,1f

y f tri' 'conventiontu T-heao'ed-boits for poid A "'wdkj'tne'tabiepiIVWjj tieusiy 'tit'tt'vanustois ettribnsa in piaceifttinrm 6, for example,a reamer, a tap for cutting threads, a routing bit, milling cutter, saw,etc. When using the reamer for finishing holes previously drilled thefeeding of the tool into the work by operation of the jackscrews 3d or35, as previously described, is particularly eiective.

1 When a routing bit is placed in the chuck in place of the drill 6, theair locks 13 and 'I8 are usually all released so that the tool mounting9 can be moved by hand to cause the tool to follow the desired pattern.If desired, a template can be mounted above the machine tool, with itssupports (not shown) attached to the posts 2-5. Then a following nger orroller may be mounted on an extension from the head of column 8, and bymaintaining this finger in contact with the outline of the template, therouting tool may be ing the:

ft mi: l 1,41

reverse the direction offftlie tapia-nd "causeilitf to orl.1 Because* or1 'the'l construcnfoi the bal gear mechanismthelrevcrs'al is ccompli hedy'Without clasliingof' thege'a'rs; "-int into regiert :1.fAfmachine toolconstruction comprising, a

ffnealn'to raiseand tower Said b 'sanditnaintain in "theY saine Ahr`iz'iital"planl" 2. Amrnachie' tool' construction comprising, a

base member having four upright parallel posts 6 mounted thereon oneadjacent each corner, upper tool mounting supporting bars and lowerworktable supporting bars extending between the posts on the oppositesides of said base, upper and lower bar supporting members arranged forsliding movement on each of said posts, said upper members beingconnected to the opposite ends of said upper bars, and said lowermembers being connected to the opposite ends of said lower bars, 70 arst jack means associated with each of said posts for shifting the lowersupporting member vertically along the post, a second jack meansassociated with each post for shifting the upper supporting membervertically along the post, and

75 two independent mechanisms for simultaneously 4 soli-feedingf' Thetapfisl'rotated at slowsp'eed and 11 rotating said first jack means andsaid second jack means respectively, of said four posts, one of saidmechanisms raising and lowering the said lower bars and maintaining themin the same horizontal plane and the other of said mechanisms raisingand lowering the said upper bars `and maintaining them in the samehorizontal plane parallel with the plane of the lower bars.

3. A machine tool construction comprising, a base member having fourupright parallel hollow posts mounted thereon one adjacent each corner,each of said posts having a jackscrew and a coacting nut member arrangedrespectively for rotating and sliding movements within the post and acollar arranged to slide on the exterior of the post and rigidlyconnected with the nut member through a slot in the Wall of the post, apair of horizontal bars on opposite sides of said base, each of saidbars being supported at its opposite ends by one of said collar members,and mechanism for simultaneously rotating said jaokscrews to raise orlower said bars and maintain them in the same horizontal plane.

4. A machine tool construction comprising, a base member having fourupright parallel posts mounted thereon one adjacent each corner, a pairof post-carried bars extending respectively between the posts on theopposite sides of said base, a mounting member arranged for slidingmove,- ment on each of Said posts, said mounting member being connectedwith the ends of said postcarried bars to support them, jack meansassociated with each of said posts for shifting said mounting membervertically along the post, mechanism for simultaneously operating saidjack means to raise and lower said bars and maintain them in the samehorizontal plane, a pair of cross bars extending between and adjustableon said post-carried bars, and a tool mounting arranged for adjustingmovement on said cross bars.

5. A machine tool construction as set forth in claim 4 in which a toolcarrying spindle is arranged for vertical adjustment in the toolmounting.

6. A machine tool construction as set forth in claim 5 wherein a speedreducing and reversing gear mechanism is carried on the tool mounting todrive and reverse the tool carrying spindle.

7. A machine tool construction comprising, a rectangular base memberhaving four upright parallel posts mounted thereon one adjacent eachcorner, a pair of post-carried bars extending respectively between theposts on the opposite sides of said base, a mounting member arranged forsliding movement on each of said posts, said mounting member beingconnected with the ends of said post-carried bars to support them, jackmeans associated with each of said posts for shifting said mountingmember vertically along the post, mechanism for simultaneously operatingsaid jack means to raise and lower said bars and maintain them in thesame horizontal plane, a pair of cross bars extending between andadjustable on said post-carried bars, a tool mounting arranged foradjusting movement on said cross bars, locking means for locking thecross bars on the post-carried bars, and separate locking means forlocking the tool mounting on the cross bars.

8. A machine tool construction as set vforth in claim 7 wherein each ofthe locking means comprises an air operated plunger, a control valve forcontrolling the air supply to the air operated plungers mounted on thecross bars and acting on the post-carried bars, and a second controlvalve for controlling the air operated plungers mounted on the toolmounting and acting on the cross bars.

9. A machine tool construction comprising, a rectangular base memberhaving four upright parallel posts mounted thereon one adjacent eachcorner, a pair of post-carried bars extending respectively between theposts on the opposite sides of said base, a mounting member arranged forsliding movement on each of said poets, said mounting member beingconnected with the ends of said post-carried bars to support them, jackmeans associated with each of said posts for shifting said mountingmember vertically along the post, mechanism for simultaneously operatingsaid jack means to raise and lower said bars and maintain them in thesame horizontal plane, a pair or cross bars extending between andadjustable on said post-carried bars, a tool mounting arranged foradjusting movement on said cross bars, a second pair of post-carriedbars arranged below the rst mentioned pair, mounting members on therespective posts connected with said lower bars to support them, awork-table carried on said bars, a second jack means associated witheach of said posts for shifting the lower mounting members along theposts, and a second mechanism for simultaneously operating said jackmeans to raise and lower the work-table with respect to said toolmounting.

JACK K. MOORE.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 1,046,394 Kolassa Dec. 3, 1912 Y2,405,387 Yeomans et al Aug.6, 1946

